The deal, in plain terms

Reading and sharing

Reading is free and always will be for the news. Quote us, link us, and share what we publish. What you may not do is republish a whole story as your own, scrape the site wholesale, or pass our work off as somebody else's. Our words, photographs, graphics and data cards stay ours unless a credit line says otherwise.

Everything on the site is published in good faith and checked against a named primary source. It is journalism, not legal, financial, medical or professional advice, and it should not be relied on as any of those.

Accounts and comments

You need an account only to reply on a story. Keep your sign-in to yourself, and give a name a reader could reasonably take as yours.

Comments belong to whoever wrote them, and by posting one you give us permission to publish it on the site and to quote it in follow-up coverage with your display name attached. We remove comments that are unlawful, defamatory, abusive, or that put someone at risk, and we close accounts that keep doing it. We do not remove comments for disagreeing with us.

Anything that could prejudice an active court case comes down immediately, without discussion. That is a legal duty, not an editorial preference.

Getting it wrong

We correct errors on the story, and we say what changed. If something we published about you is wrong, email the desk. That is the fastest route and usually the only one needed.

The site is provided as it is. We cannot promise it is always available, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from using it. Nothing here limits liability for death, personal injury, or fraud, because that cannot lawfully be limited.

Other people's sites

We link to primary sources constantly. Those sites are not ours, and what they do with your data is between you and them. Their presence here is not an endorsement of anything beyond the fact we read them.

Changes, and the law

If these terms change materially, the change will be visible here before it is relied on. Continuing to use the site after that means the new terms apply.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction.

Questions go to the desk. The address is on the contact page. How we handle your information is on the privacy page.